National 4x4 Show Melbourne

19 - 22 October 2000

Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank

Tom Kruse's
old Birdsville
mail truck
(one of them) -
a highly modified Leyland Badger.
The truck was recently restored and took part in a reenactment of a mail run
along the Birdsville track in 2000;
it now normally resides in an Adelaide museum.

The 6x4 truck has
Thornycroft
rear axles and suspension which give good articulation, but
this did not prevent it from becoming bogged many times
during its working life.

Ford:
This mega Ford
Excursion
is not an official Ford (au)
import, rather it will pass through the local conversion
industry.

Left: This Ford
F150Lariat 4x4 is another unofficial import
with a local conversion, this one on the Jefferson Ford stand.
Also on the stand - an F150 ute and an F250 XLT Supercab.

Hyundai took the opportunity to
show its new SantaFe -->
Santa Fe
four wheel drive.
This will be available with either
a 2.7 litre V6 from $30 something in December, or
a 2.4 litre 4-cylinder engine for under $30K in early 2001.

Stewart Webster Land Rover's brought the
Freelander,
Discovery, and
Range Rover.
The 2.5 litre V6 Freelander is due in Australia ~November and
the `ES', with the lot, including 5-speed Tiptronic gearbox,
will cost about au$45K, nudging the cheaper Discoveries.

Subaru
unveiled the
Outback H6,
powered by a new three litre flat six engine.

The new Impreza is for the
Sydney
Motor Show in November.- 4wd.sofcom.com

Toyota
staged the return of the 4.2 litre
turbo-diesel to the Toyota LandCruiser 100-series (right).
When the
100-series
came out two years ago it was with the straight-6 & V8
petrol engines, and the non-turbo diesel engine only.
Whether this had anything to do with reports of reliability
problems
on 80-series
turbo-diesels is "anybody's guess",
but the blower is back, and with more power.

TireLoc
- an interesting must have gadget
being imported by well known
Rangie
identity, Roger Smith.
The device consists of a kevlar bag (red/ pink) which contains
an inner tube, which is inflated through a second valve.
Pressure in the tube forces the bag against the tyre bead,
thus locking it to the wheel rim.
The tyre tire --> itself is inflated through the normal valve.
There is no effect on the road at normal tyre pressures, but
off-road the tyre can be run at just a few psi without it coming off the rim.
It is even possible to run a tyre (for a few metres) at zero pressure,
e.g. to get out of deep sand.
(Tyres should still not be run at low pressure for long distances
or heat will build up and cause damage.)
Apart from the extra hole in your rim,
the hole in your pocket is about $270 per wheel.

Kaymar: And now in stereo,
a rear wheel carrier for two spare wheels
(not to mention an optional fold-out carrier for bicycles).
It is a good idea to carry two spares when travelling
in remote country, at least one often ending up on the roof rack.
This carrier solves the problem.

This Nissan Patrol set
a record for crossing Australia.

In the background is an
ADI
Fire King, an armoured fire tender based on the
Bushranger armoured personnel carrier (APC),
up to 4 crew, loa 6500mm, width 2500mm, h 2900mm,
Cat' 3126B 6-cyl 250- 330hp at 2600rpm,
Allison MD3066 6-speed auto', 395/85R20 tyres.
It has many nice touches - like a water spray for each tyre.